Lola baby

Thursday, January 21st, our sweet Lola had to be put to sleep. The vet finally determined that she was suffering from distemper, which is pretty common in puppies. Due to this disease, she began having seizures Thursday morning. The vet informed Mike of what would happen as the disease progressed (the survival rate for puppies is only 20%). Mike and the vet decided it was best to put her to sleep to keep her from suffering the major symptoms of distemper - leads to mental damage.

Needless to say, I was devastated! She was the perfect puppy for Mike and me. I have been praying for strength, and that has really been helping me through this. I have also gotten a lot of encouraging words from family and friends. It helps to know that Lola was able to experience having a family that loved her and wanted to take care of her. It also helps to know that Mike and I have grown and learned from this. We know that the Lord has the perfect plan. What's neat is that last Sunday, our sermon was on Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me". Our pastor spoke about how we all WILL go through these valleys throughout our life, and it is important to remember that the Lord is WITH us to help us the whole time. It's amazing how the Lord works! He knew what we would be going through, and used that sermon to help prepare us. What a wonderful God!

The next step is figuring out when I will be able to get a new puppy. Mike would like to start looking pretty soon. I'm not sure yet. While I'm a lot stronger today than I was Thursday, I would like to wait at least a few weeks before looking. I think it would be too hard to start the process all over again so soon. In thinking about this though, I realized that I would love to find another Border Collie mix - and Mike agrees :-) Lola's personality just made us want another puppy similar to her. Now I have to realize that I won't find a puppy that looks just like her....she was just too precious!!!! Hopefully in the next few months we will find another Border Collie mix that needs a good home.